Hayden Harnett Hotties Hangout - Let's talk!!

[chodessa]

You're a very very brave girl fabae!! I'm getting a nervous stomach just thinking about it!!

[h82bl82]

Originally Posted by fabae

^ I tried to search for it, but all I got was some fishing charters company! Oh never mind - found it. It's .net. Okay, going to freak myself out...

See, that's what happens when I lose my links, dot net makes sense. There's a hotel in downtown Ogden that's supposedly haunted, but really nothing in any places where I've lived. It's a cool sight though, isn't it?

[chodessa]

[NamkhaDrolma]

Good morning, m'ladies,
Some long overdue responses...

Originally Posted by h82bl82

NamkhaDrolma, I sure will post some photos. I will more than likely be heading to Costco today to buy tires (oh joy, what fun!!!) How fun that you live in a converted schoolhouse. There's a Mormon family (all of them around us are, go figure????) down the street lives in a form LDS church. It is a HUGE home for them.

Originally Posted by chodessa

Namkha- your home sounds lovely!! And quite the traveler ( I AM THE WORST TRAVELER - let's not even talk about it... ) So glad you shared with us fellow Hotties.... and FYI... my sister met her husband online too!! (she did very well if I may say so...)

h82bl82, did you get your tires? We have to switch to the snow tires this weekend, too.

Before we bought this house just a couple years ago, we also looked at a church. It was amazing, with the stained glass windows still in place. But the previous owners had really done a number on it and we would have had to do so much work to restore it. We thought long and hard about it, but eventually walked away. Thinking back, I’m so glad we did. The place we live in now was completely renovated, although we still need to do a few things. But until we get around to doing them, it’s more than liveable. It’s not really huge, but that’s good because only the two of us live here with our kitties.

I’ve been secretly spying on the backgrounds to your modelling shots and just loving the peeks at your décor. Chodessa, you’ve got some lovely colour going on in your home. dcblam, your home is impeccable – so clean and light – with each item carefully chosen and artfully placed. H82bl82, I picture you in a rambling farmhouse. Anyone up for sharing shots of their home interiors? I ask, but frankly, my interior is not particularly photogenic as we’re still working on furnishing it and adding finishing touches such as baseboards, etc.

Online dating works particularly well for introverts, which both my husband and I are. I understand that things have changed a lot since the early days when we used it. But it’s a pretty good way of finding people with whom you have statistically high odds of being compatible (the romance is palpable, eh?) and that ultimately worked for us.

Originally Posted by leothelnss

I haven't posted in the bag showcase thread yet, I keep hesitating because I seem to nearly always have a bag coming to me in the mail! I might post there soon, maybe it'll stop me from buying once I can go and see all my bags in one place and realize I like my collection as it is.

Originally Posted by leothelnss

I love kitties! Do you know what kind they are? Congrats on your blossoming marriage as well Are you excited to hit 5 years? That's fantastic. I am so with you on spending $500 for a bag... The most I've spent is around the $150 mark, and I've been here since January so I'd say I'm doing pretty well. I've never really gotten into Cole Haan, what is it you like about their bags? Do you have many? I might be overlooking a great brand!

Please do post in the bag showcase or here our chat thread, leo – even one family shot would be amazing...if you can fit them all in a single frame!

Our cats are both your basic short-haired domestics. Sapphire is black with just a few white tufts here and there. He was our first and is pretty much the most affectionate feline ever. When he came to us from the HS, with the name of Sapphire, he had a bit of a respiratory infection so we called him “Sniffy” and he’s pretty much stayed Sniffy since then. Other names are Sniffy-doo, Sniffles, Sniffy-pop, and Sapphy-Sapphire. Pearl was an unnamed kitten so we decided to continue the “family jewels” theme. She’s a diluted tortie and is the cutest thing ever. Everything she does is cute. I don’t know how she manages it! She loves her big brother and he’s very good to her. Most times she ignores all of her names – Pearlescence, Pearlicue, Pearl-onion, Pearly Gates – though I have been known to respond to “Mother of Pearl”.

Your dogs are gorgeous. I did a little research on the Shiba Inu - how fascinating that it's such an ancient breed. How did you learn of it and was it difficult to find your baby?

Sorry you had to spend your anniversary apart from your guy. To be honest, my husband and I are not particularly sentimental about anniversaries and that sort of thing. I always have to check the date on the inside of my ring to remember what year we got married and then do the math. And we bought those rings really cheap online – they’re made of aircraft-grade titanium.

You’re doing amazingly well with your collection – never spending more than $150! That shows a lot of patience, determination and discipline. I have two Cole Haan bags – both are gunmetal in colour from the Village collection. What I like about them is the quality of the leather, the colour and the gathering detail. They’re very well constructed, too. For the price point, I’d say they are a quality bag. On the con side, they’re relatively heavy and, at the end of the day, don’t meet my specs from a functionality POV, i.e., double handles and lack of external pockets.

I’m finally learning that, in fact, I’m not actually a handbag collector as such. I really just want a few bags that are of exceptional quality, totally functional, and utterly beautiful. Finding HH is a start and selecting the right pieces will be the next step. But I do love checking out all the loot and bounty here on tPF.

Originally Posted by h82bl82

I did buy a Pfaff machine which makes my life much easier as the Singer is quite touchy.

Good to know. I’d like to get a sewing machine soon, but think I might take some lessons first at the local fabric shop.

[h82bl82]

Ah yes, I did get my tires and had an oil change last week. I'm good to go for a while.

[h82bl82]

Okay, now for the big guns, I had a huge response typed out then when I went to 'send' it I was conveniently not connected to the internet. I hate our IP.

Yes, our house is a farmhouse but a newer one. When we decided to move to Utah from California, my husband wanted a newer house so this is what we got. Not that our Calif. house was that old but it was at that point where everything needed replacing and some things needed it more, such as the foundation. Ouch. That hurt.

Love the Pearly Gates, that is so cute.

[NamkhaDrolma]

Aw, that's a bummer, h82bl82. I type in Word first and then paste -- to avoid problems like that. Do you have internet service provider challenges, living out in the country? We certainly do. We use line-of-sight since cable is not available to us.

Replacing a foundation -- that's serious business. What prompted the move to Utah? Not just the house, I presume. How long have you been there? Do you like it?

[chodessa]

Thanks Namkha..
Choosing paint was one of the hardest things DH and I ever had to do when we moved to our new home last year... we fought tooth and nail with eachother before we were able to decide on any colors... and I had to have my bedroom repainted 4 times before we got it right!! My painter was getting very frustrated!!! LOL...
And all the interior design was done by DH and myself (I give him credit... but it was mostly me!!)
I love DCBLAM's home design.. it's very very similar to my taste..

[NamkhaDrolma]

Originally Posted by chodessa

Thanks Namkha.. Choosing paint was one of the hardest things DH and I ever had to do when we moved to our new home last year... we fought tooth and nail with eachother before we were able to decide on any colors... and I had to have my bedroom repainted 4 times before we got it right!! My painter was getting very frustrated!!! LOL... And all the interior design was done by DH and myself (I give him credit... but it was mostly me!!) I love DCBLAM's home design.. it's very very similar to my taste..

I completely empathize, chodessa. When we painted our apartment we had the same story with the main room and upstairs hall area. And I had chosen dark colours that are difficult to paint over, so although DH was patient during the whole process, he was ready to say yes to any colour by the end of it -- especially because he was the painter. When we moved into our house, we decided to get a colour consultant so that the same thing wouldn't happen. It was the best $150 we've ever spent and we're really pleased with all the colours she helped us choose. Oh, and we hired a professional painter

This is our palette. The main colour is that very dark grey-brown. I was most uncertain about this one, but it turned out to be spectacular. The burgundy is deeper and browner than it appears in the photo and the grey is bluer in real life. These three are the most prominent in the house.

[leothelnss]

Originally Posted by NamkhaDrolma

Please do post in the bag showcase or here our chat thread, leo – even one family shot would be amazing...if you can fit them all in a single frame! Our cats are both your basic short-haired domestics. Sapphire is black with just a few white tufts here and there. He was our first and is pretty much the most affectionate feline ever. When he came to us from the HS, with the name of Sapphire, he had a bit of a respiratory infection so we called him “Sniffy” and he’s pretty much stayed Sniffy since then. Other names are Sniffy-doo, Sniffles, Sniffy-pop, and Sapphy-Sapphire. Pearl was an unnamed kitten so we decided to continue the “family jewels” theme. She’s a diluted tortie and is the cutest thing ever. Everything she does is cute. I don’t know how she manages it! She loves her big brother and he’s very good to her. Most times she ignores all of her names – Pearlescence, Pearlicue, Pearl-onion, Pearly Gates – though I have been known to respond to “Mother of Pearl”. Your dogs are gorgeous. I did a little research on the Shiba Inu - how fascinating that it's such an ancient breed. How did you learn of it and was it difficult to find your baby? Sorry you had to spend your anniversary apart from your guy. To be honest, my husband and I are not particularly sentimental about anniversaries and that sort of thing. I always have to check the date on the inside of my ring to remember what year we got married and then do the math. And we bought those rings really cheap online – they’re made of aircraft-grade titanium. You’re doing amazingly well with your collection – never spending more than $150! That shows a lot of patience, determination and discipline. I have two Cole Haan bags – both are gunmetal in colour from the Village collection. What I like about them is the quality of the leather, the colour and the gathering detail. They’re very well constructed, too. For the price point, I’d say they are a quality bag. On the con side, they’re relatively heavy and, at the end of the day, don’t meet my specs from a functionality POV, i.e., double handles and lack of external pockets. I’m finally learning that, in fact, I’m not actually a handbag collector as such. I really just want a few bags that are of exceptional quality, totally functional, and utterly beautiful. Finding HH is a start and selecting the right pieces will be the next step. But I do love checking out all the loot and bounty here on tPF.

Just saw pics of your kitties! They are gorgeous
I like sniffy, thats an adorable name, what a cute story!
Thank you for the compliments, too - I adore my dogs! I first found out about shiba inus while browsing petfinder. I wanted to adopt and was looking at pictures of dogs in my area trying to figure out if I had a breed preference. One day I came across a picture of a dog with the description "shiba inu/corgi mix" so I looked up shiba inus... And I knew they were the kind of dog I wanted.
I would have adopted a shiba, but they were absolutely impossible to find. Most of the ones I did see listed were mixed with another breed that detracted from the shiba features or halfway across the country and wouldn't adopt to out of state. The others that were listed in my area or at least on the east coast were in private rescues that wouldn't let you have their dogs if you work full-time/dont have a fenced in yard/live in an apartment.. So I ended up giving up and looking into breeders. Months later (this whole process took about a year) I got Gyles from a breeder in PA. It was difficult to find shibas and I'm very lucky to have gotten Gyles, he's so smart and so beautiful - which is exactly what I expected.
Our other dog Roxy was adopted by my husband and she is the sweetest thing ever! I could say tons of nice things about her as well, but this is getting very long... I will say once she starts licking your hand she doesn't stop until you tell her to, it's the funniest thing
That is really funny about you having to check the date on your ring, I also have a little trouble remembering our exact date. This year it was coming up and I was looking through pictures from that day hoping I had titled one with a date- I was like, "Is it 22nd or 23rd?!" Of course I'll never admit to him that I have trouble remembering important dates. For about a year and a half I couldn't figure out if his birthday was the 19th or the 21st... That was rough! Trying to nudge him into saying the date or hinting at it - "So what day of the week is your birthday this year?" LOL
I do put a lot of thought into anniversaries/birthdays/holidays etc just because they can be so much fun! It's great that you and your hubbs have mutual feelings on them, though. It must be nice to not put so much pressure on yourselves to get everything right! Do you guys celebrate at all or are you just extra sweet to each other on those days?
As for the bags - I know you've got some nice ones!
My bag philosophy currently is that if I hear of a new designer on the scene, or even just a designer I might be interested in... I look their stuff up. If I'm into the pictures/descriptions/materials/design I'll stalk the net for a while looking for something to pop up at a great price. I buy one, sometimes two bags by a certain designer before knowing much of anything about them and go from there. If I like it, I'm keeping it and probably going to buy more styles. If I don't, I can re-sell it or give it to someone who does.
The hardest part is actually wearing all of these bags! I've been thinking about downsizing my collection to something similar to what you desribed - beautiful and high quality. Basically my favorite ones, though I haven't figured out how many "ones" I want to have.

[indiaink]

Long story ahead - get comfortable!

Most Recent Paint Story (in re: paint colors, decorating, etc.)

This past summer we decided to repaint the house trim and foundation (Well, OK, I did). When Mark and I were first married, a little over ten years ago, I wanted the foundation a nice neutral beige, and the window trim/gutters dark green, with burgundy shutters. White house in between. Looked really nice! This year, I decided to white everything out - looks much cleaner. Husband was on the roof, applying a second coat of white to the hunter green gutters, when he called out to me. "Missus?" "Yes, dear?" "Did you know you this was going to take more than one coat to cover when you picked it out?" Now why would I know that? Who thinks about re-painting as they are painting? Men. He was looking for a fight... <evil grin>

Cat Story

Long ago and far away ... I had two cats who were half-brothers (but I always considered them brothers - they had the same mom), about six months apart. They lived together very nicely for almost 17 years. They moved with me from Oklahoma to Minnesota. They lived through a second marriage, a dog, so many big changes in my life. Yoda, the youngest, died at 16 - suddenly, as a result of a stroke. "Saddle Thrombosis" - man, he was gone in an hour. As we were putting him in his carrier to go to the Emergency Vet, his brother, T.A., meow'led in the most horrid way - I'd NEVER heard him make that noise before or since; in retrospect, T.A. knew his brother was lost.

At any rate, T.A. lived on relatively happily for about six months after the loss of his brother before he started telling me in his cat way that he was lonely and ready for a companion. So DH and I discussed the idea of a kitten ... and that we take some time to go look in the near future...

One day, while at work, I decided to use my lunchtime to go to the Golden Valley Humane Society and just look at who might be available. Just look, that's all. I looked and looked and looked - went through the whole place and didn't bond with anyone ... so I walked back through ... stopped to look at a batch of kittens... picked one out and one of the employees moved him to a 'visiting room' and kitten and I contemplated each other, but nothing clicked right then. Just a kitten. Then, I put the kitten back in his little space, and MAN! The lion roared! He would NOT shut up! MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW. I'm embarrassed at this point, and get him back out of his cage, WHOOSH total silence. He looked at me, I looked at him, and BAM the deal was done. I called my boss, she ok'd bringing him back to my office for the afternoon, and - well, let's just say an entire office complex came by to see the kitten who was having the time of his life - climbing the cubicle walls, just having a blast.

We get home, and DH is not happy with me. He wanted to be part of the decision process, he wanted to be along to pick somebody, he just really felt left out. While he's heatedly telling me this, he looks down ... and the kitten who became Taz had laid his head on DH's giant foot and was looking up at him adoringly. The battle was won and Taz has been DH's Number One Kitten ever since. If I hadn't witnessed Taz do this, I never would have believed it.

T.A. played 'Grandpa' for almost a year before he died of kidney failure (17 is a good old age for a beasty, I think) and he never did teach Taz any of the normal cat things. Taz doesn't know how to climb a tree, didn't know how to hiss or spit until not too long ago (his vet of many years finally stuck him in the 'wrong' place and Taz found his groove and he can cause an entire animal clinic to back the hell off when need be. Otherwise, Taz is very sociable, loves everybody except other animals (he doesn't even care for the neighbor's chihuahua - Taz is afraid of him!) and is a big talker... we carry on whole conversations many times during the day.

When he was a tee-nine-y kitten he had to go to the vet and stay the day to be checked out - I called that afternoon to see if he could come home and if he was OK - and the vet tech said "Yes, he's fine - can't you hear him?" and she held the phone out and I could hear Taz, just talkin' away. The tech came back on the line and said Taz had been yelling like that all day.

Ten years later, the tech remembers Taz, every time he goes in for a checkup. "oh yes, Taz" and she has to tell whoever's around about the time he meowed all day when he was just a little kitten.

Taz doesn't eat normal people food; or rather, he doesn't care for just any old thing - when T.A. was still alive, our vet recommended canned pumpkin as a treat to help his digestion; T.A. stuck his nose up at it, but Taz loved it - now, all these years later, he has his canned pumpkin treat every night about 8:30. It's got to be Libby's canned pumpkin, too, no other brand. Two tablespoons, and he's in kitty heaven. The pumpkin helps move fur through his digestive system and out the other end, so Taz had only had about five hairballs in ten years... Taz also loves fat-free bologna and fajita-seasoned chicken.

Taz was diagnosed with Feline Diabetes in July. He gets an injection of 2 units of insulin twice a day (a.m. and p.m.) and is doing very very fine on this regimen. He is prescribed Purina Diabetes Management Dry food, and from the research I've done, I eventually want to get him off the dry food and feed him only meat - as I've learned cats are Obligate Carnivores and don't need anything else but a meat-based diet. No grains, no vegetables, no carbs, no nothing. Meat. It was a surprise to me! Cats are the only species who are a true meat-eater. Not even dogs eat only meat. Fascinating.

End of story. For now!

[h82bl82]

Wonderful stories you guys and I'm taking your advise Namka, I'm typing this in Word first. Yeah, we had dial up for ages until we were able to find an IP who could get us online. We had first tried to go with another high speed provider but their tower was west of us and even with the dish do-dad on the very top of our roof, there were still too many things blocking it, such as neighboring houses and neighboring trees. So we went with a different provider, brand X as I prefer to call them. We could get satellite, but I need to get a deal of some sort, free installation or something because their monthly costs are about $20 more than what we pay now. Believe me, there are times I think a dixie cup and a string would be more efficient.

The animals stories were great ladies! Oh India, that little Taz is a smart kitty, he knew just how to wrap you guys around his little paw.

Gyles' story was terrific too. I'm glad you stuck to your guns about finding just the dog you wanted even though it took a year. Gyles is such a cutie.

House painting, ah, this is the first house I've lived in where the paint colors just rocked! Our walls are a pale, very, very pale olive green. I know it sounds horrible, but it works. The wall over our fireplace is a mottled pale brown and once again it sounds weird but works. Our dining room has red walls and when I first saw that I said 'we need to get rid of that once we move in'. Well, guess what, they're still red and I love them! I heard on HGTV, on one of the many House Hunter's programs I watch that red walls in the dining room makes for a better appetite! Seems to be working.

[chodessa]

Oh... so loving these bonding stories...
Namkha.. Love your color palette... I love color when it comes to paint... I actually HATE plain white walls.... and I love having one shocking accent wall in certain rooms...
Cindy.. Red is my fave color and although I did not paint in any reds my Living Room has the most fab lipstick red chairs... off set by 2 cheetah print chairs I designed myself (kinda..) My den has a huge dark red/burgandy sectional... I just love the color red.. I think it has to do with my fiery personality.... And the wall around my fireplace is a nice chocolate brown... another one of my favorite colors for walls... Dark Brown.. I love the pop of the red chair against the brown wall too!!


India... the kitty story...I was veklempt... (EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THAT MEANS NOW RIGHT??) How Taz sat on Hubby's foot and it was over... and I can relate to the yowling at the vet... We have been called many a time to "come get the dog" cuz the darn animals won't stop howling.. Whenever my hubby leaves the house.... a couple of the dogs howl like wolves... it's hysterical... although I'm sure my neighbors think it's not so funny...


Leo... Gyles is handsome... and he knows it!! And he looks like a handful!! Believe me I know what that's like!!


When I was doing the interior design of my home last year, I was ADDICTED to HGTV... that Candace Olsen... oh, she used to make me scream at the beautiful things she designed.. When we finished the house and moved, my MIL (who owns a real estate company) told everyone... "My DIL is a pharmacist but her real talent is as an interior decorator"... I was grateful for the compliment... Unfortunately pharmacist scale pays the bills much much better... I am NO Candace Olsen!! Plus I practically maxxed out the credit cards to furnish the place so... off to mix intravenous drugs I go!! Shopaholic Hubby convinced me.. "new start...new furniture"... Didn't seem like such a big deal at the time!!


I would love to see pics of people's interiors...but I wonder if people think it's too personal to post....

[fabae]

Originally Posted by leothelnss

That is really funny about you having to check the date on your ring, I also have a little trouble remembering our exact date. This year it was coming up and I was looking through pictures from that day hoping I had titled one with a date- I was like, "Is it 22nd or 23rd?!" Of course I'll never admit to him that I have trouble remembering important dates. For about a year and a half I couldn't figure out if his birthday was the 19th or the 21st... That was rough! Trying to nudge him into saying the date or hinting at it - "So what day of the week is your birthday this year?" LOL .

Okay, this is really, really sad, but sometimes I have trouble remembering how old I am. I have to do the math every once in a while.

And I'm not even halfway out of my thirties!

[gingeybear]

From Namkha: You're a riot, gingeybear! Post here and tell us all about yourself! Hayden Harnett Hotties Hangout - Let's talk!!

And be sure to tell us about the significance of "gingeybear"!

I'm a 54 year old mom of 3. One of my children has a learning disability and ADHD. Long story short, I had worked in an accessories showroom on 38th and Fifth for a few years and then submitted a portfolio of my writing to a non-for profit agency. I worked my way up from just doing research (this was before the Internet so I am in love with what I can do now!!!) and begn writing proposals, letters, and "ghosting" articles for the executive V.P published. When the principal of my daughter's elementary school told me she was uneducable, I switched her out but in my district none of the schools were right. I placed her in a private school that had a halfway decent resource room but it wasnt nearly enough. I left my job and tutored her at home until she graduated from high school with a B+ average. She is now in graduate school studying social work and doing really well.

So now I advocate, mentor and tutor kids with learning disabilities from every socio-economic strata. Sometimes I get paid, sometimes I don't but I get "my kids" what they need, teach them and their parents to advocate as well.

I just took a break from writing the research proposal for a sociology article on the social network of mothers of adolescents with ADHD. (I had to explain to one of the younger professors that social network doesn't mean facebook or myspace or myface but in this case I'm defining it as the immediate family members for this study.) Don't want to bore you with all of the details...I'm passionate about this so I wanted to finish this before 11PM.

I have 5 minutes before I take my 18 year old out to vote.first time and in a presidential election no less...the amount of time she spends texting and online on hulu I hope to heaven she doesn't vote for Tina Fey!

That's part of my life story. We bought a fixer-upper handyman's special..still no kitchen except for appliances and a sink but I still manage to cook! I love to write, and I am almost finished a children's book and am working on a novel. I swim and powerwalk, love music and art and sketch whenever I can.

Namkha...Gingey is a nickname for redhead in some countries and bear is because I collect and make a few teddy bears a year for cancer patients. I make each teddy bear by hand sewing (it takes me longer and longer to make one the older I get!) when someone in the neighborhood asks me for a "secret" bear for someone with cancer. You would be surprised how many big strong ex football players love a "secret" bear with a special inner pocket for secrets or wishes or good luck charms or notes when they're undergoing chemo or radiation for cancer.

I'm a cancer survivor fifteen years and counting.

Nice meeting you guys and thanks for inviting me in! Thanks for the nice feedback I'm getting on my rhymes. I write them to cheer people up, or to give them support or make them laugh.....

It's not just about handbags in the HH chatterbox
everyone here really rocks!
I'm so glad I bought my Big mimi in Lead on ebay
Cause I may not have found purse forum any other way!



out!